Research Projects

Current Research

The following studies are in progress within our research group. These studies have been joined under the PhD study so that families only participate once, but their input allows multiple investigations to take place. We are so grateful to all these families! We currently have one PhD and two Masters studies taking place, and this data has already contributed to two completed degrees.

Katie Hamilton, Doctoral Candidate, thesis title: “The Biological Bases of Social Deficits: The possible roles of the mu-opioid receptor and the serotonin transporter promoter length polymorphism in social motivation, empathic behaviour, and Theory of Mind in Autism Spectrum Disorder”

Kirsty Carter, Masters Candidate, thesis title: “The Relationship between Childhood Attachment and Parenting Styles and the impact on Social Development in Autism Spectrum Disorder”

Malcolm-Smith, S. & Hamilton, K. (2013) Social chemistries in depression and Autism Spectrum Disorders. Paper presented at the University of Cape Town – University of Wurzburg Bilateral Seminar, Mont Fleur, Stellenbosch, April 2013.

Hulley, M., Murray, S., Malcolm-Smith, S. & O’Ryan, C. (2013). An investigation of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in differential-expressed candidate genes: is there a correlation between SNP’s and ASD phenotypes in South Africans? Poster presented at the 16th SSBP International Research Symposium, Stellenbosch, South Africa, September 2013.

2 Responses to Research Projects

Dear Sir/Mam
I would like to be put in contact with someone in connection with further research for my PHD on High functioning Autism (AS). I completed my Masters at CPUT on ‘the impact on sensory processing on the learning and development of two AS Grade R learners’. I also had a journal article published in the ‘South African Journal of Childhood Education/2011(2): 1-16’, at the University of Johannesburg.